Book review: The Energy of Denial, by Vincent Mignerot
Book review
The energy of denial, by Vincent Mignerot
Copyright: Benjamin Laks
“The failure of the energy transition has prompted us to explore the causes of the discrepancy between expectations and reality.”
This quote from Vincent Mignerot is from the introduction of his book ‘L’énergie du déni’(1).. It has not yet been published in English, but we hope this review will contribute to expose his ideas to more people around the world.
Organised into 6 chapters over a hundred pages, this book challenges received and reassuring ideas - but its thesis seems essential to consider.
What is energy?
The first chapter explains the concept of energy: a quantity of transformations.
Human beings have access to energy, which they transform to meet their needs. Some sources of energy, such as hydrocarbons, are said to be 'in stock' because their quantity is limited: Vincent Mignerot tells us that half the hydrocarbons available on our planet have already been consumed.
Other energy sources known as "renewable", such as solar rays and wind, are not bound by the notion of reserves. But to exploit them, you need infrastructures that require materials, which are themselves in finite supply on Earth. The author clearly demonstrates, by making the second principle of thermodynamics accessible, that we will not be able to build wind turbines and solar panels ad infinitum, whatever our recycling policies.
The second part of the chapter makes the link between economy and energy, and we found this not only relevant but essential to understanding the systemic issues involved.
The energy transition: a pipe dream?
The second chapter supports Vincent Mignerot's thesis: to date, no energy transition scenario guarantees that we will be able to fulfil the promise of breaking our dependence on fossil fuels. It has not been demonstrated that decarbonised energies do not rely on an infrastructure built entirely around fossil fuels: we are a thermo-industrial society and to think that this society can function without hydrocarbons is a matter of belief.
The third chapter goes further, since the author argues that the energies of the transition would in fact be no more than back-up energies, reinforcing the fossil fuel energy system without replacing it. He illustrates this point with the example of carbon quotas, and with examples of the use of renewable energies to exploit hydrocarbon deposits even more effectively.
What are the alternatives?
The fourth chapter is brief, but takes us into the future: since the stock of hydrocarbons is finite, the thermo-industrial society will not last forever. So what futures are possible? The author explains how the notion of resilience is used to 'sell' acceptable narratives. He calls on systems thinking to show the contradiction between versatility and resilience, between local and global logics. Quoting Spinoza, he challenges us to think differently about the future.
The fifth chapter explores the conditions for a future that would enable a real reduction in our societies' ecological footprint. Vincent Mignerot suggests four ways forward:
> reduce our economic wealth
> reduce the use of insurance systems, whose existence is based on "the ability of markets to make money (from premiums) by relying on an extractivist production model".
> reduce our use of machines by increasing the use of physical labour
> share wealth equitably
Denial in the face of adversity
In the final chapter, Vincent Mignerot concludes his demonstration by tackling the more psychological aspect, since faced with a challenge, the human mind tends to resort to denial. The author explores the concepts that can reinforce this denial: 'greenwashing', 'collapswashing' (2) and an imperialist vision of nature. He warns that promises that are not kept could lead to a serious loss of trust in the social body.
In the book's conclusion, Vincent Mignerot introduces the concept of the ecological singularity, a period when "the acceptance of limits to development would lead to the disqualification of techno-solutionism beliefs. (...) Technology would return to being a means, not an end.
We hope to have paid tribute to this brilliant work by Vincent Mignerot, and leave you with a last quote: "If without control we are heading straight for the abyss, the illusion of control would push us there even faster".
(1) L’énergie du déni, 01/2023, collection ‘les incisives’, Rue de l’échiquier.
(2) Collapswashing -from Vincent Mignerot's book - concealing reality in the name of the collapse narrative.
